The present invention relates in general to a tiltable upwardly extending supporting bridge or arch mechanism for marine electronic equipment such as a radar antenna, elongated marine radio antennas and the like, and more particularly to a tiltable radar antenna and supporting arch assembly for boats having super structures such as cabin, piloting bridge or the like extending above the normal deck level, as on cabin cruisers or the like, for supporting a radar antenna and/or marine antennas and which may be tilted to a lowered position for clearing low obstructions.
For a long time, marine radio systems have been in wide use on pleasure craft type boats such as cabin cruisers and like water craft having superstructures which extend above the normal deck level. The antennas for such marine radios are usually in the form of elongated antenna devices of considerable height which, if provision is not made to lower or depress them in some manner, create problems when the boat passes under low obstructions such as bridges or into docking bays of boat houses and the like. Commonly the elongated whiplike marine radio antennas can be made sufficiently movable by providing flexible springlike mounts or some kind of pivotal connection at their lower mounted ends to retract them from their normal elevated positions. Marine radar systems have now become more widely used for private pleasure watercraft such as cabin cruisers and the like, and typically involve a rotary radiation beam emitting and receiving antenna element and mounting structure, for the common PPI type radar unit display, which is a relatively rigid structure and projects usually several feet above the mounting base for the radar antenna. Clearly such structures may create considerable problems in providing sufficient clearance in the upper part of the boat or watercraft to pass under low obstructions.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel upwardly extending generally bridge type supporting structure for a radar antenna and/or marine radio antennas and the like to be mounted in upwardly extending relation on a boat superstructure such as a cabin cruiser roof (the bridge structure being hereinafter referred to as a supporting arch), wherein the supporting arch is mounted by a tilting base mounting assembly at the lower ends of downwardly extending legs thereof operable under remote control by power means to swing the arch between a normal raised position for normal operation of the antennas to a lowered position to permit clearance of the antennas under low obstructions with which they would normally collide.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a supporting arch mechanism for radar and other electronic equipment antennas and the like as described in the immediately preceding paragraph, wherein box-like mounting assemblies are provided at the base of each of the legs of the arch structure for pivotal support of the arch between the lowered and raised positions, and wherein at least one of the box-like mounting structures includes a hydraulic actuator cylinder operative from a toggle switch and connected to a suitable actuator projection extending from the adjacent arch leg eccentrically of the pivot axis for the arch leg to move the same between raised and lowered positions.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a supporting arch mechanism for boats or the like as described in the two immediately preceding paragraphs, wherein gusset structure is provided in the box-like mounting base structure to withstand the internal stresses produced by the hydraulic actuator cylinder, and wherein a locking device may be provided for providing a positive locking of the arch structure in the raised or "full up" position.
Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a supporting arch assembly for boat antennas and the like as described in the immediately preceding paragraphs, wherein access openings are provided in top cover portions of the box-like mounting base structures communicating with the hollow interior of the legs of the arch and removably covered by a removable closure panel, to provide access for storing material inside the arch leg.
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.